Best Laid Plans (31 page)

She was light-headed,
lighthearted, and reckless. Her slightly inebriated consciousness prodded and
urged her to be sensible and get some fresh night air.

Once outside, took a deep
breath, shook her head to clear it from the music and smoke, and found herself
swallowing an unexpected yawn. Suddenly, she was glad she had left the madness
behind and taken refuge on one of the many balconies that graced the mansion.
She looked up into the tranquil midnight-blue sky, lit by a brilliant harvest
moon that rivaled the daytime sun.

Leaning against the black
wrought-iron railing, she became totally mesmerized by the view from Jerome
Quimby's hillside estate. At one time the wide sweep of land below had been a
Spanish settlement housing eleven families. Now it was an awesome, sprawling
megalopolis in a land of earthquakes, where one lived in bondage to the
automobile.

To the south was a man-made
concrete trail of tied and knotted freeways, spangled with the greenery of
palms, leading to the Pacific Ocean. To the north and west lay the fertile San
Fernando Valley; in the east, lights from the steel and glass skyscrapers of
Los Angeles winked in the night.

Virginia closed her eyes and
stretched her bare arms with languid abandon toward the City of Angels. Her
lungs were refreshed by the fragrance of exotic evening blooms, while the balmy
breeze caressed her warm skin. She had to admit the evening was not the
disaster she had expected.

She had listened to countless
stories with never a thought to correcting any of the numerous mistakes she had
heard. She had giggled enchantingly at the witty jokes, deftly handled the
clumsy passes and a few rough, drunken caresses. She had enjoyed playing the
impetuous coquette - she was once again an instigator.

Virginia patted the silk mask
with sincere affection. It was the catalyst. Behind this mask she felt safe and
secure, daring and bold. The tiny, delicate black satin held back the sane,
sensible Virginia and released the heady, flamboyant Ginger. She seemed to be
the embodiment of two women: one intelligent, cool, and reserved; the other
giggling, flirtatious, and brazen. It was a strange paradox yet not totally an
uncomfortable one.

Once again Virginia's light
blue eyes focused on the night sky, searching the stars for the constellation
of Perseus. There, at the tip of Medusa's Head, was the well-known variable
star Algol. Tonight she and Algol shared an affinity among that great infinity
that was the universe. Right now Algol sparkled like a gleaming jewel, but in a
matter of hours it would grow dim and lose two-thirds of its brilliance.

She too would suffer that same
fate. In a few more hours the Halloween party would be over, the costumes and
masks put away, and Virginia would once again be a lab coat, glasses, and bun -
with an enormous IQ. A rather desolate sigh escaped her pink-tinted lips. Diane
had been right: She was missing an integral part of life.

She wondered if some of
tonight's brilliance couldn't be harvested and turned into adrenaline that
could be permanently pumped into her psyche. It was wonderfully exciting to be
treated like a woman rather than a computer or an inanimate piece of machinery.
While she might make the feminists wince, Virginia couldn't deny that being a
sex object certainly boosted one's sagging ego. It had been a long time since a
man had paid attention to her rather than her achievements.

But could she change? Tonight
was a fantasy, an illusion - it wasn't real. Minute by minute, day by day,
that's what counted. Oh, but to escape behind a mask. Virginia wished all women
that reward, even if it was for just one night!

Something soft landed against
her bare shoulder; her hand came up to capture a tiny pink rosebud that slid
against the swell of her breast. Another blossom grazed her arm, then fell
silently to her feet. Puzzled, Virginia bent to retrieve it. Her eyes narrowed
and focused on a dark shape almost blending into the shadows of the walled
concrete steps leading down to the grounds.

"Good evening,"
drawled a deep masculine voice.

"Good evening,"
Virginia murmured after a moment's hesitation. She watched him approach, his
lean, muscular frame exuding the animal energy and grace of a stalking panther.
She hadn't seen him inside. She would have remembered.

He was tall and
formidable-looking in his black attire. His broad shoulders and chest were
emphasized by a wide-collared, wide-cuffed silk shirt, unbuttoned nearly to the
waist, and close-fitting trousers hugged his slim hips. The hard-brimmed
Spanish riding hat and black scarf mask succeeded in concealing most of his
face, but Virginia could see a straight masculine nose, a strong square jaw and
firm, molded lips.

He smiled at her undisguised
appraisal, the grooves deepening in his cheeks. "Taking a brief rest from
all your attentive partners, my beautiful Rabbit?" he inquired in an
amused tone that held more than a hint of a Southern drawl.

She merely smiled. "And
you?"

He gave a casual nod, reached
up, removed his riding hat and ran a large hand through thick dark hair,
distinguished by streaks of silver. "I'm not one for Jerome's little
bashes," he answered dryly, leaning his sinewy body against the railing.
"I'm just playing the dutiful houseguest. I rigged up this costume and
spent the evening wandering in and out of the main event, enjoying the buffet
and the drinks."

Virginia relaxed. He was just a
visitor, not an employee at AVELCOMP, so she wasn't likely to run into him at
the water cooler on Monday. This information instantly renewed her
self-confidence. She felt safe and secure and, suddenly, bold and reckless.
Virginia decided to indulge in a little game of feminine seductiveness. She
shook back a wealth of hair that shimmered with molten strokes of gold and
flashed her companion a provocative smile. "And who are you supposed to
be?" Her lashes flirted at him behind the satin mask.

His lips twisted in a little
half-smile; his hand captured hers. "A humble bandit of Old California, at
your service."

At the touch of his warm lips
the skin on the back of her hand seemed alive with excitable nerve endings.
"A very gallant bandit." Her heart pounded roughly against her breast
and made her voice quite breathless. "But, alas, I'm afraid I don't
possess any jewels that would hold your interest." Her ring less free hand
gave a dismissing gesture as she sighed with demure affectation.

The moonlight slanted across
his eyes, making them glow like polished agates. His bold gaze held her
prismatic irises a prisoner. "Your beauty and charm outshine any gems,
fair Rabbit." Again he lifted her hand, this time palm up, his even white
teeth lightly nipping the sensitive flesh near her thumb.

The tug of war in Virginia's
mind was taking on full-battle proportions. A sensible voice urged her back
inside to the safety of the crowd. A reckless entity tempted her to stay and
continue this intimate tête-à-tête with the handsome Bandit.

Reckless won.

Virginia leaned back, hands
curved around the railing, one knee provocatively bent, her head cocked
sideways in a coy come-hither pose. Her body talked a silent language to his.

"And what do you do at
AVELCOMP, my lovely Rabbit?"

She lazily moved one sensuous,
bare shoulder. "Oh, a little of this, a little of that." Virginia's
smooth, liquid soprano lilted vaguely. "I'm very adaptable." Her
iridescent eyes widened innocently behind the flirtatious mask.

"I bet you are." The
Bandit leisurely studied her full but lithe, highly visible feminine terrain.

"And what do you do?"
Virginia's voice came out an enticing purr.

"A little of this, a
little of that. I'm very adaptable too." He had moved closer, his
hard-muscled leg casually pressed against her sleek, black-stockinged thigh.

The night air was filled with
erotic stirrings. A sultry breeze carried the perfumed offering of evening
flowers and deftly blended it with the haunting sound of trumpet notes
filtering through the French doors out to the balcony.

The Bandit turned, his voice
low and infinitely inviting. "We can't let this music go to waste."
His hands slid slowly up the silken length of Virginia's arms to pull her
closer.

Her skin tingled with delicious
sensations. She leaned forward until her full breasts touched his chest,
deliberately teasing the curling mat of dark hairs visible between the parted
shirt. Virginia found she was aching to feel the wonders of his firm, athletic
body, and her eager fingers curved into his sinewy biceps. The high-heeled
pumps added the scant inches needed to put her eyes and mouth on a level with
his.

The Bandit's movements were
unrushed and sensual. He savored every moment of this encounter. His determined
hands slipped down the sides of her satin costume and sculptured her lush
curves against his hard frame. She responded quite naturally to the exquisitely
pleasurable stimulation he was creating. Their bodies melded together in
perfect synchronization with the music.

An undeniable spark of
electricity flowed. Time and circumstance prevailed. Barriers were lowered,
reserves set aside, as were the rules. They were two puppets in Fate's scheme.
Puppets whose strings were controlled by surging emotions and heightened
desires.

His caressing hands blazed an
erotic trail down her spine to the rounded contours of her buttocks. There his
fingers tangled and played with the fluffy white bunny tail. Her hands explored
the steel strength beneath his shoulders; her fingertips gently massaged his
neck, and then moved upward to his face. Pastel-pink fingernails traced the
angle of his jaw and the curve of his lean cheek, teasing the lobe of his ear before
they submerged themselves in the virile coils of dark hair that curled onto his
shirt collar.

Virginia had succumbed to a
world hidden deep within the secret recesses of her female psyche. A world
controlled by sensual pleasure. A world sharp and alert with a brilliant
burning. Her mind felt strangely possessed. The gleaming eyes that blazed
behind the black scarf mask had hypnotized her. The inherent male scent of his
flesh, combined with the subtle hint of spice cologne, tantalized her libido
and played havoc with her body chemistry. She luxuriated in the masculine
physique that enveloped her like a second skin.

She wished it were possible to
capture this sliver of time. To seal these memories in a bottle like fine wine,
to uncork it and savor it again and again. She was losing herself to age-old
desires and a secret, hungry yearning. She wasn't going to fight it. She was
going to enjoy it. A submissive sigh escaped her. Virginia snuggled contentedly
into the warm hollow of his neck, her body burning its womanly imprint into his
hard, masculine form.

What had started out as fun and
games beneath the harvest moon suddenly flared into desire. Desire that was
sparked and fanned by the golden-haired temptress the Bandit held in his arms.
The smooth expanse of her bare skin was like velvet beneath his palms. Her
supple anatomy responded to his every direction. Her eyes mirrored hidden
pleasures; her perfect lips tempted; the subtle nuances of her perfume seared
his brain. The total impact of her femininity rendered him intoxicated and
irresponsible.

His knuckles stroked the
delicate hollow beneath her cheekbone, then flowed down the sensitive tendons
of her throat. She moved her head, sending silken waves spilling over his arm,
and allowed his questing fingers free access to the erogenous terrain exposed
by the brief costume.

The Bandit's long fingers
captured Virginia's face. His lambent gray eyes studied her glowing ethereal
features in the luminous night. "You are exquisite." His voice was a
hoarse whisper. His tongue traced the outline of her half-parted lips, then his
warmly, possessive mouth filled a sudden gap of silence.

His probing tongue was
insistent, penetrating into the lush interior of her mouth. She met it,
hesitantly at first, then with matched fevered passion. Their tongues worked
together like skilled swords, thrusts and parries, ripostes and lunges - a
well-orchestrated intimate duel.

Time dissolved into delicious
slow motion. They explored each other with hands and fingers, mouths and
tongues. The delicious sensual stimulation each gifted the other with only
enhanced their mutual pleasure.

His palm stroked the meager
satin cover from her swelling breasts. His rough fingertips tenderly found,
then teased, her excited nipples. Her responding whimper of pleasure aroused
him.

Instead of pushing the Bandit
away Virginia arched her back and guided his dark head lower, silently urging
his lips to replace his conquering hand. The lash of his tongue against her
sensitive peaks sent sweet sensations effervescing through her blood. Primitive
passions carbonated and exploded under the erotic magic that surrounded her.

This was madness, her mind
shouted. You don't even know this man! But that only heightened Virginia's
ecstasy. Sanity's voice drowned beneath the blistering rush of wild heat
surging through her body.

Her inquisitive fingers pressed
into the working muscles of his back and shoulders. She felt him quiver with
pleasure when her teasing tongue traced the sensitive curves of his ear and her
teeth tugged lightly at the lobe.